八版圣典节译：剥皮者

Flayed Ones are carrion creatures, the victims of a terrible madness that took root during the last days of the War in Heaven. Their curse was the parting gift of one of the C'tan: Llandu'gor, , the Flayer. It is said that when the Necrons turned upon the C'tan, the Flayer was not merely splintered as were his brothers, but utterly obliterated. Yet, in his dying moments, he called down a terrible curse upon his betrayers, tainting them with an echo of his fearsome hunger. For aeons the Flayer's curse went unnoticed and unseen. By the time the madness began to manifest, the afflicted Necrons had travelled far and wide, unwittingly spreading the disease to countless worlds. 

剥皮者是散发着腐尸臭味的生物，他们是某种起源于天堂之战最后时期的恐怖疯狂的受害者。这份诅咒是一位星神——兰杜’高尔，“扒皮者”给予的临别礼物。据说当太空死灵们背叛星神时，扒皮者并非是像他的兄弟们那样被分裂为碎片，而是被彻底消灭。但在临死之时，他对这些背叛自己的贰臣贼子们发出了可怕的诅咒，让他们被自己的恐怖饥饿的回音所污染。在千万年的时间中，扒皮者的诅咒都未被注意和看到。而等到疯狂开始显现时，倍受折磨的太空死灵们已经分散到了遥远广阔的空间中，不知不觉地将疾病传播到无数的世界。

A Necron over whom the flayer curse has taken hold suffers a slow and tortuous erosion of sanity. It begins to revel in the bloody ruin of fleshed foes, and is driven to claim gruesome trophies of skin, sinew and bone. As the madness progresses, the victim becomes compelled to feast upon the fallen. It cannot actually digest or consume flesh in any sense - the blood simply seeps through the gaps in its exoskeleton to clog its joints and pool at its feet - yet still the Necron is driven to gorge itself upon gore in a doomed attempt to sate an unquenchable lust. Physical changes occur shortly thereafter, wracking and twisting the afflicted Necron's form into something as warped in body as it is in function. Ultimately, the accursed Necron simply disappears, drawn by unknown instinct to a pocket dimension where he will forever dwell amidst the charnel palaces of the Flayed Ones. It is said only the Oroskh know the reason why. 

一名被扒皮者的诅咒所控制的太空死灵会遭受缓慢而曲折的心智侵蚀。它们开始沉迷于血肉构成的敌人那血淋淋的残骸，并被驱使去夺取皮肤、肌腱和骨头这些可怕的战利品。随着疯狂加剧，受害者们就会被迫在死者遗体上大快朵颐。但事实是，它们在任何意义上都无法消化和消耗掉这些肉类——鲜血只是从外侧骨骼的缝隙中渗出，阻塞关节，并在脚边汇成一滩。这些太空死灵们被驱使着暴食血肉，他们在试图进行一种注定会失败的尝试：满足某种无法抑制的贪欲。不久之后，它们也发生了躯体上的形变，受影响太空死灵的躯体会被破坏和扭曲为某种在身体和功能上同样反常变形的事物。最终，这些受影响的太空死灵会简单得消失，他们被未知的本能吸引到一个口袋维度中，他将永远栖身在剥皮者们的墓穴宫殿中。据说只有奥罗斯克王朝才知道其中的缘由。

Other Necrons loathe the Flayed Ones and fear them for the disease they carry. As a result, those suspected of infection are banished or destroyed before the affliction becomes contagious. However, no manner of precaution can prevent a pack of Flayed Ones joining a battle already underway. They can materialise at any time, lured from their bleak dimension by the scent of blood and carnage. Flayed Ones commonly attack with little regard for strategy, though they will occasionally have the presence of mind not to attack immediately, stalking their target until it is vulnerable. This is best done from downwind, as Flayed Ones are wreathed in a dense stench of rotting flesh. When the moment to attack comes, Flayed Ones strike without hesitation, slashing at their prey with twisted talons and keening shrill madness. If the enemy flees, Flayed Ones rarely pursue, choosing instead to feast upon their victims. However, if the enemy proves particularly resilient, the Flayed Ones inevitably retreat, skittering into the shadows to await a more tractable target. 

其他太空死灵们厌恶剥皮者，也惧怕他们携带着的疾病。结果就是：在这种影响变得具有传染性之前，那些疑似的感染者就会被放逐或毁灭。但是，没有任何预防手段可以阻止一群剥皮者加入一场正在进行中的战斗。他们能在任何时候突然出现，鲜血和屠杀的气息会把它们从荒凉的空间中引诱出来。在进攻中，剥皮者们通常都是几乎不关心战略的，不过他们偶尔会保持镇定，不立即攻击目标，而是跟踪着对方，直到其变得脆弱。剥皮者这么做是最好是处于下风向，因为它们的身上缠绕着一股腐烂皮肉的恶臭味道。当进攻时刻到来时，剥皮者们会毫不犹豫地发动袭击，用扭曲的利爪抓砍猎物，并发出刺耳的疯狂叫声。如果敌人逃跑，剥皮者们几乎不会去追击，相反，它们会选择大啖受害者们的尸体。不过，倘若敌人表现出特别的韧性，剥皮者也会进行意料之中的撤退，快速跑到阴影中等待更容易对付的目标。

Most Overlords make little or no attempt to adapt their plans for the unwanted actions of Flayed Ones, preferring rather to accept any advantage their presence brings. Regardless of the horrific creatures' usefulness, it is not uncommon for an Overlord to order the execution of any surviving Flayed Ones at battle's end. Alas, only the most insane are slaughtered easily. The rest slip sideways through the dimensions to reappear in their palaces of rotting flesh, laden with their newly claimed trophies and reeking of fresh blood. 

大多数霸主都很少或根本没有尝试过调整他们的计划来应对剥皮者的不必要行动，而是宁愿接受他们的存在所带来的任何优势。尽管这些可怖的生物也存在可用性，但霸主们在战斗结束时下令处决所有幸存的剥皮者也是常见现象。唉，（可惜）只有最疯狂的那些个体才容易被屠杀。剩下的剥皮者们则是从侧面滑过维度，重新出现在它们的腐肉宫殿中，满载着自己新夺取的战利品，浑身散发着鲜血的腥臭气。